1. Technical Field
The invention relates to commercial seating. More particularly, the invention relates to pedestal seating for use when an individual is required to alternately sit and stand during the performance of the duties associated with a job. Specifically, the invention relates to pedestal seats secured to the floor adjacent a counter for rotatably supporting a seat.
2. Background Information
Many individuals are required to alternatively sit and stand at the performance of duties associated with a job. Specifically, individuals that work as bank tellers, or workers at drive-up windows, toll and guard booth operators, and research laboratory technicians all alternatively stand and sit in the performance of their duties.
This constant movement between standing and sitting can create counter fatigue significantly reducing employee productivity. Moreover, the height disparity between standard seating and standard countertops creates additional problems for individuals working at these jobs. While elevating seating is available for use with these elevated countertops, they are prone to tipping, and are generally only usable with countertops in a relatively small height range.
Standard seating creates additional problems when used in this environment in that the individual must continually check for chair position before moving from the standing to the seated position further reducing the user's productivity.
To alleviate the problems discussed above, and to speak to the specific needs of workers in these environments, seats have been developed which are securely mounted to the floor of the work area adjacent the countertop to prevent the seat from moving as the user alternatively moves between standing and sitting positions. Moreover, these devices provide that the seat may be rotated about the pedestal base to a comfortable position, with that comfortable position then being locked to assure that the seat cannot move relative to the pedestal. In this manner, the position of the seat remains constant relative to the countertop to reduce the need for the user to continually check for the seat position as the user moves from the standing to the seated position. Additionally, existing seats may be adjusted to a comfortable height relative to the countertop and thus are usable with countertops and work stations having a wide range of sizes, heights and configurations. Existing pedestal seats solve many of the problems encountered by individuals frequently moving between standing and sitting positions in the performance of their duties. Moreover, existing pedestal seats have alleviated the need to stock a significant number of different seats for use with countertops having different heights, size and configurations.
While the above discussed pedestal seats are presumably adequate for the purpose for which they are intended, the manufacturer and supplier must still manufacture and stock a number of separate models in order to supply a seat for all mounting positions. Specifically, the existing pedestal style seats are right and left handed with one seat having a right hand mount pedestal and a chair that swings left, and another seat having a left hand mount pedestal with a chair that swings right. This design is presumably adequate for the purpose for which it was intended, but requires the manufacture to stock multiple style seats increasing overhead, as well as complicating the installation and ordering process.
Therefore, a need exists for a universal pedestal style seat in which a single pedestal may be mounted to the right or to the left of the final seat position, such that the single pedestal is used regardless of the seat's position relative to the countertop.